Formula One star Jules Bianchi will 'not give up' fight for his life, says father

The Marussia driver has been in intensive care in a "critical but stable" condition after an incident at the Japanese Grand Prix a week ago.

His father Phillipe Bianchi said each time his family receive a phone call they are worried it could be the hospital telling them their son being dead.

But he added that despite the "desperate" situation it is a "miracle" the F1 driver survived the horrific accident.

The elder Bianchi said: "The situation is desperate. Every time the phone rings we know it could be the hospital to say Jules is dead.

"But first they said the first 24 hours were crucial, then it became 72 and now we are still here, with Jules who is fighting.

"I see it, I believe it, I speak to him, I know he hears me. The doctors have said that is already a miracle, that nobody has ever survived such a serious accident.

"But Jules does not give up."

He was speaking to Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper in Yokkaichi, Japan where his son is being treated after the crash on October 5.

During the Grand Prix at the Suzuka race circuit the Marussia driver hit into a truck recovering the damaged car of fellow F1 driver Adrian Sutil.

Bianchi hit the tractor during heavy wet conditions after his car aquaplaned, which is when a vehicle glides on standing water.

The race was called off the crash and the French driver was rushed to hospital where he underwent brain surgery.

His father and mother Christine along with his brother and sister have been at his bedside in Japan for the past week after travelling there from France.

The elder Bianchi said his family were living a nightmare in unfamiliar surroundings and without knowing what the future might hold.

He said: "Maybe when Jules is better ... we can move him to Tokyo and things will be easier.

"But who knows when that will happen, if it happens. We have no certainties, we can only wait.

"One day he seems a little better, another a bit worse.

"The doctors don't say, the damage in the impact was great but they don't know how it will evolve."

Mr Bianchi snr added that he had taken hope from the case of Michael Schumacher who also suffered a severe head injury while skiing in France last year.

The seven time F1 world champion needed to be operated on and was placed in a medically induced coma.

In September he was moved from hospital to his home and recently Jean Todt, head of F1's governing body the FIA, gave a positive update on his health.

The 68-year-old, who worked at Ferrari when Schumacher when five driver's titles, said he thought the German could lead a "relatively normal life again".

While Schumacher's son Mick said over the weekend that the F1 legend was waking up "slowly".

The elder Bianchi added: "Even with Schumacher it took months before he came out of the coma, but I have read that Jean Todt hopes he could have a nearly normal life.

"One day I hope to be able to say the same."

He also thanked F1 drivers for their support and said Ferrari star Fernando Alonso, Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Verge were among those who wrote to him.

He said British driver Lewis Hamilton, who is leading the race for the world title, sent a "lovely" message saying he was there for the Bianchi family.

At this weekend's inaugural Russian Grand Prix all the drivers stood in a silent circle before the race as a mark of respect for Bianchi.

A poignant message was also inscribed on the start finish straight of the Sochi Autodrom which said "Jules, we are all supporting you".